Author: Jennifer R Kerrigan

After attending the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, Bert Marley knew he wanted the 2016 convention to be different. In L.A., Idaho delegates stayed at a hotel in a Beverly Hills neighborhood while the convention and most other delegates were downtown. Worst of all, he said, Idaho’s delegation was on the outskirts alone.

Bernie Sanders won an overwhelming majority of Idaho delegates in the Demcratic caucus, but superdelegate Van Beechler publicly announced herself undeclared. She remained undecided until Tuesday night’s vote for the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, when she cast her vote for Clinton. “I was on the fence,” Beechler said.

Jesse Maldonado doesn’t take well to being told that something can’t be done. When he was in eighth grade his teacher told him he couldn’t be a politician. Now, Maldonado is the youngest delegate from at the National Democratic Convention, already with a history of influencing Idaho politics.

Carolyn Boyce, national committeewoman for the Idaho Democratic Party, is the lone supporter of Hillary Clinton among Idaho’s superdelegates. In a state that voted overwhelmingly for Bernie Sanders in its March Democratic caucus, Boyce’s position is unpopular. Idaho gave Sanders 18 of its 23 elected delegates.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who met with his delegates privately at the Pennsylvania Convention Center Monday, told his supporters that the Democratic Party “needs Clinton to defeat Trump.” This was meant with resistance as delegates cried out “no!” and “we want Bernie!”